EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The research is on the basis of A STUDY ON A STUDY ON QUALITY OF WORK

LIFE. Due to changes in technology and to meet various demands of the employees and
to withstand the place in the Global market the company has to focus on employees
satisfaction on major areas like job security, job satisfaction, medical facilities, canteen
facilities, rewards, ESI, etc.,.

Surveys are an effective way of knowing about employees quality of work life in the
organization. While exit interviews are generally used, they are a delayed way of
knowing the quality of work life.

The study was based on the descriptive research design. The sampling design being used
here is Simple Random Sampling. The sample size 46 has been used

Thus this report seeks to utilize primary research, through structured

questionnaires and secondary method involves data collection through magazines
and websites.

The Suggestion made by the employees where mostly implemented whenever they were
applicable.

1
 CONCEPT OF THE STUDY

To know the overall quality of work life in the organization and its impact on

employees work culture.

To measure the level of satisfaction of employees towards the quality of work life.

To suggest suitable measures to improve the quality of work life.

To identify the major areas of dissatisfaction if any, and provide valuable suggestions

improving the employees satisfaction in those areas.

To analyze the findings and suggestion for the study.

Overall quality Satisfaction of

Employees
Of work

CONCEPT

Identify the
Major Areas
Improvement
Analyze

2
 COMPANY PROFILE

3
4
 INTRODUCTION
Quality of Work Life:
Quality of work life (QWL) is viewed as an alternative to the control approach of managing

people. The QWL approach considers people as an 'asset' to the organization rather than as

'costs'. It believes that people perform better when they are allowed to participate in

managing their work and make decisions.

This approach motivates people by satisfying not only their economic needs but also their

social and psychological ones. To satisfy the new generation workforce, organizations need to

concentrate on job designs and organization of work. Further, today's workforce is realizing

the importance of relationships and is trying to strike a balance between career and personal

lives. Successful organizations support and provide facilities to their people to help them to

balance the scales. In this process, organizations are coming up with new and innovative

ideas to improve the quality of work and quality of work life of every individual in the

organization. Various programs like flex time, alternative work schedules, compressed work

weeks, telecommuting etc., are being adopted by these organizations. Technological advances

further help organizations to implement these programs successfully. Organizations are

enjoying the fruits of implementing QWL programs in the form of increased productivity, and

an efficient, satisfied, and committed workforce which aims to achieve organizational

objectives. The future work world will also have more women entrepreneurs and they will

encourage and adopt QWL programs.

Quality of Work Life: its Meaning and Definition!

The present era is an era of knowledge workers and the society in which we are living has
come, to be known as knowledge society. The intellectual pursuits have taken precedence
over the physical efforts.

5
Some knowledge workers work for more than 60 hours a week. As a result of this, their
personal hobbies and interests clash with their work. Life is a bundle that contains all the
strands together and hence the need to balance work life with other related issues.

One must have both love and work in ones life to make it healthy. Gone are the days when
the priority of employees used to be for physical and material needs. With the increasing shift
of the economy towards knowledge economy, the meaning and quality of work life has
undergone a drastic change.

Meaning:

Quality of work life (QWL) refers to the favourableness or unfavourableness of a job

environment for the people working in an organisation. The period of scientific management
which focused solely on specialisation and efficiency, has undergone a revolutionary change.

The traditional management (like scientific management) gave inadequate attention to human
values. In the present scenario, needs and aspirations of the employees are changing.
Employers are now redesigning jobs for better QWL.

Definition:

The QWL as strategy of Human Resource Management has assumed increasing interest and
importance. Many other terms have come to be used interchangeably with QWL such as
humanisations of work quality of working life, industrial democracy and participative
work.

2. QWL is a way of thinking about people, work and organisations, its distinctive elements
are (i) a concern about the impact of work on people as well as on organisational
effectiveness, and (ii) the idea of participation in organisational problem-solving and decision
making. Nadler and Lawler

3. The overriding purpose of QWL is to change the climate at work so that the human-
technological-organisational interface leads to a better quality of work life.

-Luthans

4. QWL is based on a general approach and an organization approach. The general approach
includes all those factors affecting the physical, social, economic, psychological and cultural
well-being of workers, while the organizational approach refers to the redesign and operation
of Organizations in accordance with the value of democratic society.

6
CHARACTERISTICS

Making Multi
the Dimensional
Care of Health Decisions
& Safety
Aspect

CHARACTERISTICS

Quality of Working Life is a term that had been

used to describe the

Fair &
Reasonable
Job Security broader job- related

experience an individual has.

Job
Specification
Whilst there has, for many years, been much research into

job satisfaction (1), and, more recently, an interest has arisen into the broader concepts of

stress and subjective well-being (2), the precise nature of the relationship between these

concepts has still been little explored. Stress at work is often considered in isolation, wherein

it is assessed on the basis that attention to an individuals stress management skills or the

sources of stress will prove to provide a good enough basis for effective intervention.

Alternatively, job satisfaction may be assessed, so that action can be taken which will

enhance an individuals performance. Somewhere in all this, there is often an awareness of

the greater context, whereupon the home-work context is considered, for example, and other

factors, such as an individuals personal characteristics, and the broader economic or cultural

climate, might be seen as relevant. In this context, subjective well-being is seen as drawing

upon both work and non-work aspects of life.

7
However, more complex models of an individuals experience in the workplace often appear

to be set aside in an endeavour to simplify the process of trying to measuring stress or some

similarly apparently discrete entity. It may be, however, that the consideration of the bigger,

more complex picture is essential, if targeted, effective action is to be taken to address quality

of working life or any of its sub-components in such a way as to produce real benefits, be

they for the individual or the organisation.

Quality of working life has been differentiated from the broader concept of Quality of Life.

To some degree, this may be overly simplistic, as Elizur and Shye,(1990)(3) concluded that

quality of work performance is affected by Quality of Life as well as Quality of working life.

However, it will be argued here that the specific attention to work-related aspects of quality

of life is valid.

Whilst Quality of Life has been more widely studied (4), Quality of working life, remains

relatively unexplored and unexplained. A review of the literature reveals relatively little on

quality of working life. Where quality of working life has been explored, writers differ in

their views on its core constituents.

It is argued that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts as regards Quality of working

Life, and, therefore, the failure to attend to the bigger picture may lead to the failure of

interventions which tackle only one aspect. A clearer understanding of the inter-relationship

of the various facets of quality of working life offers the opportunity for improved analysis of

cause and effect in the workplace.This consideration of Quality of working Life as the

greater context for various factors in the workplace, such as job satisfaction and stress, may

offer opportunity for more cost-effective interventions in the workplace. The effective

targeting of stress reduction, for example, may otherwise prove a hopeless task for employers

pressured to take action to meet governmental requirements.

8
The distinction made between job satisfaction and dissatisfaction in quality of working life

reflects the influence of job satisfaction theories. Herzberg at al., (1959)(13) used Hygiene

factors and Motivator factors to distinguish between the separate causes of job satisfaction

and job dissatisfaction. It has been suggested that Motivator factors are intrinsic to the job,

that is; job content, the work itself, responsibility and advancement. The Hygiene factors or

dissatisfaction-avoidance factors include aspects of the job environment such as interpersonal

relationships, salary, working conditions and security. Of these latter, the most common cause

of job dissatisfaction can be company policy and administration, whilst achievement can be

the greatest source of extreme satisfaction.

An individuals experience of satisfaction or dissatisfaction can be substantially rooted in

their perception, rather than simply reflecting their real world. Further, an individuals

perception can be affected by relative comparison am I paid as much as that person - and

comparisons of internalised ideals, aspirations, and expectations, for example, with the

individuals current state (Lawler and Porter, 1966) (1).

In summary, where it has been considered, authors differ in their views on the core

constituents of Quality of Working Life (e.g. Sirgy, Efraty, Siegel & Lee, 2001 (11) and Warr,

Cook & Wall, 1979)(7).

It has generally been agreed however that Quality of Working Life is conceptually similar to

well-being of employees but differs from job satisfaction which solely represents the

workplace domain (Lawler, 1982)(15).

Quality of Working Life is not a unitary concept, but has been seen as incorporating a

hierarchy of perspectives that not only include work-based factors such as job satisfaction,

satisfaction with pay and relationships with work colleagues, but also factors that broadly

9
reflect life satisfaction and general feelings of well-being (Danna & Griffin, 1999)(16). More

recently, work-related stress and the relationship between work and non-work life domains

have also been identified as factors that should conceptually be included in Quality of

Working Life.

10
ACTIVITIES AND CONCERNS

Walton provides eight conceptual categories for analysing the features of QWL. They are
"adequate and fair compensation, safe and healthy working conditions, immediate
opportunity to use and develop human capacities, future opportunity for continued growth
and security, constitutionalism in ihe work organization, work and the total life space, and the
social relevance of work life". The International Labour Office Lists the following areas as
concerns of QWL.

Hours of work and arrangements of working time.

Work organization and job content.

Impact of new technologies on working conditions.

Working conditions of women, young workers, older workers and other special
categories.

Work-related welfare services and facilities.

Shopfloor participation in the improvement of working conditions.

Nadler and Lawler list the types of QWL activities as participative problem-solving, work
restructuring, innovative reward systems and improving the work environment.

Davis and Newstrom could perceive a wide range of QWL activities as open
communications, equitable reward systems, a concern for employee-job security, and
participation in job designs. According to him, emphasis should be placed on employee skill
development, the reduction of occupational stress and the development of more co-operative
labour management relations.

INDIA, 2012: 20-year-old woman had labour pain, she had to give birth to her daughter
within a rice mill in Alapakkam village in Madurantagam, 78 km south of Chennai state,
where she was working as a bonded worker for five years for a daily salary of Rs 8/- (0.15$)
(as against the norms of Rs 113.50 per day under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. Under the
bonded labour System (Abolition) Act 1976,a labourer should have the freedom to work
anywhere and there should not be any advance payment that would hold him back.).
11
The owner of the mill did not provide medical help. Deterioration of their health without
medical care has forced them along with other 19 employees at the rice mill to revolt against
the mill owner. Based on a plea by one of the workers who escaped from the mill a few day's
ago, Kancheepuram collector sent a team of revenue officials and doctors to inspect the mill
on Thursday. The team rescued 21 people including 11 children.

The factors that influence and decide the Quality of work life are:

1. Attitude
2. Environment

3. Opportunities

4. Nature of Job

5. People

6. Stress Level

7. Career Prospects

8. Challenges

9. Growth and Development

10. Risk Involved and Reward

Attitude: The person who is entrusted with a particular job needs to have sufficient
knowledge, required skill and expertise, enough experience, enthusiasm, energy level,
willingness to learn new things, dynamism, sense of belongingness in the organization,
involvement in the job, inter personnel relations, adaptability to changes in the situation,
openness for innovative ideas, competitiveness, zeal, ability to work under pressure,
leadership qualities and team-spirit.

Environment: The job may involve dealing with customers who have varied tolerance level,
preferences, behavioral pattern, level of understanding; or it may involve working with
dangerous machines like drilling pipes, cranes, lathe machines, welding and soldering
machines, or even with animals where maximum safety precautions have to be observed
which needs lot of concentration, alertness, presence of mind, quick with involuntary actions,
12
synchronization of eyes, hands and body, sometimes high level of patience, tactfulness,
empathy and compassion and control over emotions.

Opportunities: Some jobs offer opportunities for learning, research, discovery, self-
development, enhancement of skills, room for innovation, public recognition, exploration,
celebrity-status and loads and loads of fame. Others are monotonous, repetitive, dull, routine,
no room for improvement and in every sense boring. Naturally the former ones are interesting
and very much rewarding also.

Nature of Job: For example, a driller in the oil drilling unit, a diver, a fire-fighter, traffic
policeman, tram engine driver, construction laborers, welder, miner, lathe mechanic have to
do dangerous jobs and have to be more alert in order to avoid any loss of limb, or loss of life
which is irreparable; whereas a pilot, doctor, judge, journalist have to be more prudent and
tactful in handling the situation; a CEO, a professor, a teacher have more responsibility and
accountability but safe working environment; a cashier or a security guard cannot afford to be
careless in his job as it involves loss of money, property and wealth; a politician or a public
figure cannot afford to be careless, for his reputation and goodwill is at stake. Some jobs need
soft skills, leadership qualities, intelligence, decision making abilities, abilities to tram and
extract work from others; other jobs need forethought, vision and yet other jobs need motor
skills, perfection and extreme carefulness.
People: Almost everyone has to deal with three set of people in the work place. Those are
namely boss, co-workers in the same level and subordinates. Apart from this, some
professions need interaction with people like patients, media persons, public, customers,
thieves, robbers, physically disabled people, mentally challenged, children, foreign delegates,
gangsters, politicians, public figures and celebrities. These situations demand high level of
prudence, cool temper, tactfulness, humor, kindness, diplomacy and sensitiveness.

Stress Level: All these above mentioned factors are inter-related and inter-dependant. Stress
level need not be directly proportional to the compensation. Stress is of different types -
mental stress/physical stress and psychological or emotional stress. A Managing Director of a
company will have mental stress, a laborer will have physical stress, a psychiatrist will have
emotional stress. Mental stress and Emotional stress cause more damage than physical stress.

13
Career Prospects: Every job should offer career development. That is an important factor
which decides the quality of work life. Status improvement, more recognition from the
Management, appreciations are the motivating factors for anyone to take keen interest in his
job. The work atmosphere should be conducive to achieve organizational goal as well as
individual development. It is a win-win situation for both the parties; an employee should be
rewarded appropriately for his good work, extra efforts, sincerity and at the same time a
lethargic and careless employee should be penalized suitably; this will motivate the former to
work with more zeal and deter the latter from being so, and strive for better performance.

Challenges: The job should offer some challenges at least to make it interesting; That enables
an employee to upgrade his knowledge and skill and capabilities; whereas the monotony of
the job makes a person dull, non-enthusiastic, dissatisfied, frustrating, complacent, initiative -
less and uninteresting. Challenge is the fire that keeps the innovation and thrill alive. A well-
accomplished challenging job yields greater satisfaction than a monetary perk; it boosts the
self-confidence also.

Growth and Development: If an organization does not give chance for growth and personal
development it is very difficult to retain the talented personnel and also to find new talent
with experience and skill.

Risk Involved and Reward: Generally reward or compensation is directly proportional to

the quantum of work, man-hours, nature and extent of responsibility, accountability,
delegated powers, authority of position in the organizational chart, risk involved, level of
expected commitment, deadlines and targets, industry, country, demand and supply of skilled
manpower and even political stability and economic policies of a nation. Although risk is
involved in every job its nature and degree varies in them; All said and done, reward is a key
criteria to lure a prospective worker to accept the offer.

Conclusion: A happy and healthy employee will give better turnover, make good decisions
and positively contribute to the organizational goal. An assured good quality of work life will
not only attract young and new talent but also retain the existing experienced talent.

BENEFITS AND DRAWBACKS

1.Defined skill set: When we say advantages it is seen that it can be visualised during the
early stages of ones career. When one is in search for job, having a specific skill set could
help one to land in a job. As jobs are nowadays becoming more specific having that

14
specialized skill set, it helps one to acquire those skills through training or through
experience.

2.Upward growth: Having a specific skill or being specialized in that work would also bring
growth in that division. They get chances to move up the ladder and gain more expertise in
that specialization. Each specialization has its own uniqueness depending on the weightage
and the depth of knowledge.

3. Good package: A job specialization means a person is knowing how to do that work and
complete it. Companies are ready to pay if they find that person is really expert in that work
as there is no one to replace them. So if you want to be paid then get to know the market
trend and specialize in those field where you would get paid well.

4. Defines quality and excellence: When a company declares employing specialists for their
tasks it means that they take care of the type and quality of work being executed. It ultimately
brings excellence to the work done. In other words it can be said that each department would
be proud of their special skill set with them.

5. Brings in trust: There is a general understanding among customers that having specialists
to carry out services means that their work is done without flaw. Besides that, they also know
that there would be quality in the work executed. This is the way specialists are renowned
that brings trust in their name.

6. Proud of their work: Specialists are those who have a specific skill set and if those skills
sets are rare to be found then generally those people are really proud of their specialisation.
They take pride in their work and often execute with care and respect. They often show their
pride in the job they do as there is no one who could replace them.

7. Increases productivity: It is generally found that allowing a work to be done by people who
are expert in that field would have less errors. As correcting errors not only takes time and
resource, it also reduces productivity. Thereby training is provided to make employee
specialized in that work. Hence, having a person who can do the work without flaws will
eventually bring out more output. More output means more productivity.

8. Wastage costs cut down: When a portion of the job is being handled by one person then
he/she concentrates on executing those tasks without error. Thereby the quality control costs
are cut down. As you may be aware that manufacturing units are more specific on the quality

15
of the output, having specialized people will not allow production of defective products. It
means wastage is reduced

9. Higher revenue: Having quality control in place with experts or specialized task force to
execute the job, will definitely reduce the defects. This is directly impacting the revenue of
the business.

10. Without supervision: As specialization requires training, the workers becomes experts in
their assigned jobs and they do not flaw much. Besides the intention of giving training is that
the worker would be handling the work without any supervision.Decision making at lower
level is being handled by the employees who get trained.

11. Employability: Having specialized skill set does have advantages over the non-skill set
category of people. During hiring process, these people have more preference to be being
selected. There are jobs that require workers to have specific knowledge and skills. Such
people would be desirable than the others with general skills.

12. Cannot be replaced: An employee with specialized skill that others dont know or have
would be difficult to be replaced. If the person has a skill that other employee does not have
then he would be the first in line to be laid off during times of downsizing

13. Solidarity within groups: It may seem funny but you would be seeing that people
performing a particular category of work tend to share their views and show solidarity. They
often unite for causes or other issues. Their common job role unites them, join to form
unions, socialize together and tend to understand each other based on their similarity in their
lives.

Disadvantages of Work Specialization:

The following mentioned are few limitations and cons of work specialization.

1. Becomes outdated: This is often experienced during mid-career life. When a new trend is
set in and the business changes to adapt them, the jobs carrying out those tasks becomes
outdated. Like for instance there were demands of skilled typists in any organisation during
earlier period. But with advent of personal computers and laptops, this job profile is losing its
shine.

16
2. Mastering one skill set: Having mastered one skill and having gained experience in only
that field of work would eventually hinder the career growth. This becomes even difficult
when the job becomes leaner throughout the job market.

3. Omitted from managerial positions: As you keep focusing on doing the specialized job you
would eventually be side lined when position of managerial is required for. Specializing in
doing particular set of tasks, people would not make you as their choice for managerial post
as those tasks wouldnt had impact on the business.

4. Gets boring: As you are aware that the specialized work allows a person to concentrate on
one aspect of work and day after day they perform the same work. With time, this work does
not pose any challenging assignments and becomes boring. When the job becomes boring, it
leads to dissatisfaction and lose interest.

5. Cannot multitask: Sometimes, being specialized in one work does not allow one to perform
multitasking jobs. As they would have been concentrating and functioning in only one aspect
of the work, they would find it difficult to multitask. If they were trained from the beginning
then these category of people cannot be allowed for multitasking work assignments.

6. Restrictions to apply: If there is vacancy in another section or department where the job
profile would pay better, these candidates who are specialized would be restricted from filling
in those posts. As they are said to working for that specialization, vacancies that might arise
cannot be taken up by them.

7. Company suffers: If the company is performing well due to the expert working in that
category, his/her absence would definitely create a vacuum. This absence is sure to affect the
performance and the company suffers in due course of time.

8. Limited skill set: As the word says, specialized work means having specific skill set. If we
look closer we would realize that the skill set is focused and hence looks small. The other
category of people who work with non-skill set would be having more skill sets than
specialized people.

9. Difficult to find jobs: Specialization is when employees practice specific skills for a
specific function. Hence, employees get trained in executing the work that is suitable for that
specific business. But when there is downsizing or company tends to become leaner, these
people find it difficult to find jobs as they have limited or specific skill set.
17
10. Loses overall sight: Companies often see the sections that caters to the needs of their
section with the help of specialized task force that focus more on their goals thereby losing
track of the overall goals of the company. There is lack of communication between the units
thereby hindering the production cycle. Co-ordination issues incur when the production team
do not collaborate with the other team or units.

11. Cannot take breaks: When the specialized work force members do require to take breaks
for special reason, they often cannot take as there is no one else to replace them. This hinders
their recreation and makes it awkward for the employee. This is moment that the company is
faced with this challenge of getting someone to replace their absence. In case they do get
leave or break, it affects the production line as the replacement is not qualified and does not
have necessary experience to run the production efficiently.

12. No socializing opportunities: As these job categories requires them to continuously work
till end of work hours, they dont have time to socialize with their other team or other units.
This affects their motivation level to some extent. It indirectly affects their working and
dissatisfaction levels.

13. More absenteeism: As the job is a repetitive task and with no breaks, causes worker to
become bored. There are not changes to the work and it becomes cumbersome to his eyes and
hands. The lethargy makes him to abstain from work. The frequency in the leaves increases
and thereby decreases the output. Having to do the same job without socializing or coffee
breaks every day is quite a boring job.

14. Fewer job improvements: As the same job is being done day after day, the worker does
not have opportunity to think out of the box. Changes that may be needed for the job is not
thought about. Hence, when opportunities does not exist there is no chance for improvements.
Improvements are seen only when worker gets chance to review the work process and given
time to ponder.

15. Not meeting end users: Prior to specialization a worker who makes a product was
involved from the finish till end or sometimes till delivery to the customer or end user. Mass
productions or business needs has broken the work down to specific jobs wherein the worker
gets involved with the making of one unit. He / She does not feel that they are part of the
product that was produced. Their labour is not valued and is considered as a commodity.

18
Hence, it can be seen that work specialization is indeed having its own advantages and
disadvantages. Many companies do not consider them as obsolete nor do they think that it
would help to increase productivity. There needs to be a balance of having work
specialization but need to allow workers to switch in between or shuffle their responsibilities.
In other words, job rotation could be considered as alternative way. Also by broadening the
job role, increasing the tasks and responsibilities, empowering them, expanding the scope of
work, are some ways to increase the morale of the worker. Even allowing employees to have
time for coffee breaks boosts morale. It is also found that getting feedback of the performance
appraisal motivates workers to have face to face interaction with their bosses. This generates
a feeling of being considered and recognized.

TYPES AND FORMS

Walton provides eight conceptual categories for analysing the features of QWL. They are
"adequate and fair compensation, safe and healthy working conditions, immediate
opportunity to use and develop human capacities, future opportunity for continued growth
and security, constitutionalism in ihe work organization, work and the total life space, and the
social relevance of work life". The International Labour Office Lists the following areas as
concerns of QWL.
Hours of work and arrangements of working time.
Work organization and job content.

Impact of new technologies on working conditions.

Working conditions of women, young workers, older workers and other special
categories.

Work-related welfare services and facilities.

Shopfloor participation in the improvement of working conditions.

Nadler and Lawler list the types of QWL activities as participative problem-solving, work
restructuring, innovative reward systems and improving the work environment.

Davis and Newstrom could perceive a wide range of QWL activities as open
communications, equitable reward systems, a concern for employee-job security, and

19
participation in job designs. According to him, emphasis should be placed on employee skill
development, the reduction of occupational stress and the development of more co-operative
labour management relations.

INDIA, 2012: 20-year-old woman had labour pain, she had to give birth to her daughter
within a rice mill in Alapakkam village in Madurantagam, 78 km south of Chennai state,
where she was working as a bonded worker for five years for a daily salary of Rs 8/- (0.15$)
(as against the norms of Rs 113.50 per day under the Minimum Wages Act, 1948. Under the
bonded labour System (Abolition) Act 1976,a labourer should have the freedom to work
anywhere and there should not be any advance payment that would hold him back.).

The owner of the mill did not provide medical help. Deterioration of their health without
medical care has forced them along with other 19 employees at the rice mill to revolt against
the mill owner. Based on a plea by one of the workers who escaped from the mill a few day's
ago, Kancheepuram collector sent a team of revenue officials and doctors to inspect the mill
on Thursday. The team rescued 21 people including 11 children.

The factors that influence and decide the Quality of work life are:

1. Attitude
2. Environment

3. Opportunities

4. Nature of Job

5. People

6. Stress Level

7. Career Prospects

8. Challenges

9. Growth and Development

10. Risk Involved and Reward

20
Attitude: The person who is entrusted with a particular job needs to have sufficient
knowledge, required skill and expertise, enough experience, enthusiasm, energy level,
willingness to learn new things, dynamism, sense of belongingness in the organization,
involvement in the job, inter personnel relations, adaptability to changes in the situation,
openness for innovative ideas, competitiveness, zeal, ability to work under pressure,
leadership qualities and team-spirit.

Environment: The job may involve dealing with customers who have varied tolerance level,
preferences, behavioral pattern, level of understanding; or it may involve working with
dangerous machines like drilling pipes, cranes, lathe machines, welding and soldering
machines, or even with animals where maximum safety precautions have to be observed
which needs lot of concentration, alertness, presence of mind, quick with involuntary actions,
synchronization of eyes, hands and body, sometimes high level of patience, tactfulness,
empathy and compassion and control over emotions

Opportunities: Some jobs offer opportunities for learning, research, discovery, self-
development, enhancement of skills, room for innovation, public recognition, exploration,
celebrity-status and loads and loads of fame. Others are monotonous, repetitive, dull, routine,
no room for improvement and in every sense boring. Naturally the former ones are interesting
and very much rewarding also.

Nature of Job: For example, a driller in the oil drilling unit, a diver, a fire-fighter, traffic
policeman, tram engine driver, construction laborers, welder, miner, lathe mechanic have to
do dangerous jobs and have to be more alert in order to avoid any loss of limb, or loss of life
which is irreparable; whereas a pilot, doctor, judge, journalist have to be more prudent and
tactful in handling the situation; a CEO, a professor, a teacher have more responsibility and
accountability but safe working environment; a cashier or a security guard cannot afford to be
careless in his job as it involves loss of money, property and wealth; a politician or a public
figure cannot afford to be careless, for his reputation and goodwill is at stake. Some jobs need
soft skills, leadership qualities, intelligence, decision making abilities, abilities to tram and
extract work from others; other jobs need forethought, vision and yet other jobs need motor
skills, perfection and extreme carefulness.

People: Almost everyone has to deal with three set of people in the work place. Those are
namely boss, co-workers in the same level and subordinates. Apart from this, some

21
professions need interaction with people like patients, media persons, public, customers,
thieves, robbers, physically disabled people, mentally challenged, children, foreign delegates,
gangsters, politicians, public figures and celebrities. These situations demand high level of
prudence, cool temper, tactfulness, humor, kindness, diplomacy and sensitiveness.

Stress Level: All these above mentioned factors are inter-related and inter-dependant. Stress
level need not be directly proportional to the compensation. Stress is of different types -
mental stress/physical stress and psychological or emotional stress. A Managing Director of a
company will have mental stress, a laborer will have physical stress, a psychiatrist will have
emotional stress. Mental stress and Emotional stress cause more damage than physical stress.

Career Prospects: Every job should offer career development. That is an important factor
which decides the quality of work life. Status improvement, more recognition from the
Management, appreciations are the motivating factors for anyone to take keen interest in his
job. The work atmosphere should be conducive to achieve organizational goal as well as
individual development. It is a win-win situation for both the parties; an employee should be
rewarded appropriately for his good work, extra efforts, sincerity and at the same time a
lethargic and careless employee should be penalized suitably; this will motivate the former to
work with more zeal and deter the latter from being so, and strive for better performance.

Challenges: The job should offer some challenges at least to make it interesting; That enables
an employee to upgrade his knowledge and skill and capabilities; whereas the monotony of
the job makes a person dull, non-enthusiastic, dissatisfied, frustrating, complacent, initiative -
less and uninteresting. Challenge is the fire that keeps the innovation and thrill alive. A well-
accomplished challenging job yields greater satisfaction than a monetary perk; it boosts the
self-confidence also.

Growth and Development: If an organization does not give chance for growth and personal
development it is very difficult to retain the talented personnel and also to find new talent
with experience and skill.

Risk Involved and Reward: Generally reward or compensation is directly proportional to

the quantum of work, man-hours, nature and extent of responsibility, accountability,
delegated powers, authority of position in the organizational chart, risk involved, level of
expected commitment, deadlines and targets, industry, country, demand and supply of skilled
manpower and even political stability and economic policies of a nation. Although risk is
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involved in every job its nature and degree varies in them; All said and done, reward is a key
criteria to lure a prospective worker to accept the offer.

Conclusion: A happy and healthy employee will give better turnover, make good decisions
and positively contribute to the organizational goal. An assured good quality of work life will
not only attract young and new talent but also retain the existing experienced talent.

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 ROLE IN BUSINESS

If you're in manufacturing, you might go back to your manufacturing team and say, "Not my
problem, I can only build what I'm given." But that won't sell your product, or serve your
organization.

1. The Customer. To start building your quality system, you must begin with the end in
mind. Specifically, what does the customer truly value? It may not be exactly what they tell
you they care about. You need to be able to take their feedback, your observation and good
data on their behaviors to understand the customer's true values.

2. The Inputs. On the other end of the system, you must understand the key levers as inputs
to a good quality output. Basically, if we do these things right, our results should be just fine.
For example, how both materials or parts and information is presented to users is crucial. Is it
hard to select the right component? Is it hard to read the build sheet and know what decision
to make? Standard work has also been a key component of quality output but is often treated
as primarily an efficiency tool. Does the individual follow a standard process (whether it's
written or not)? How can you tell? How can they tell?

Related

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3. The Feedback. Since quality is dynamic, we cannot just design it out of the system; we
have to effectively react to it. Your feedback, and feed-forward, loops must be designed to be
visible, relevant and timely. Are you feeding back the right information? Is it getting to the
right person or role? And how long does it take to detect the issue, communicate it and react
to it? Too often, the feedback isn't getting either to the people inadvertently causing the
problem, or to those who can do something to fix it. And if it is, we create multiple quality
signals that tell us eight different things in eight different ways. Which one am I supposed to
react to? You can't react to the top issue on eight different signal inputs. You must design your
feedback systems so that people can see the entire problem landscape and then make good
decisions about where to put their resources.

4. The Problem Solving. Perhaps most importantly, you must connect and engage effective
problem solving for the issues found. Too many think this means the procedure of whether
we do an 8D or an A3 or a Six Sigma project. But more important than the tool or template is
the effort taking place. Is there a committed resource to solve quality problems, or is there a
committed time allocation for another resource? Do we solve these problems to true
resolution or just work it until the next problem surfaces? Are we just fixing the problem or
are we fixing the system as we learn?

5. The Quality Department. I wrote many of the key items above as questions rather than
just critical success factors, in part because I'm getting ready to assess an organization's
quality system, but also because it is the role of the quality department. The role of the quality
department shouldn't just be to fix the biggest problems on the list. They should be the chief
architects of the quality design, designing and redesigning the feedback loops, understanding
the customer's real needs, and being great coaches of problem-solving efforts.

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 CURRENT SCENARIO

Definition

Various authors and researchers have proposed models of Quality of working life which
include a wide range of factors. Selected models are reviewed below.

Hackman and Oldham (1976)(5) drew attention to what they described as psychological
growth needs as relevant to the consideration of Quality of working life. Several such needs
were identified; Skill variety, Task Identity, Task significance, Autonomy and Feedback. They
suggested that such needs have to be addressed if employees are to experience high quality of
working life.

In contrast to such theory based models, Taylor (1979)(6) more pragmatically identified the
essential components of Quality of working life as; basic extrinsic job factors of wages, hours
and working conditions, and the intrinsic job notions of the nature of the work itself. He
suggested that a number of other aspects could be added, including; individual power,
employee participation in the management, fairness and equity, social support, use of ones
present skills, self development, a meaningful future at work, social relevance of the work or
product, effect on extra work activities. Taylor suggested that relevant Quality of working life
concepts may vary according to organisation and employee group.

Warr and colleagues (1979)(7), in an investigation of Quality of working life, considered a

range of apparently relevant factors, including work involvement, intrinsic job motivation,
higher order need strength, perceived intrinsic job characteristics, job satisfaction, life
satisfaction, happiness, and self-rated anxiety. They discussed a range of correlations derived
from their work, such as those between work involvement and job satisfaction, intrinsic job
motivation and job satisfaction, and perceived intrinsic job characteristics and job
satisfaction. In particular, Warr et al. found evidence for a moderate association between total
job satisfaction and total life satisfaction and happiness, with a less strong, but significant
association with self-rated anxiety.

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Thus, whilst some authors have emphasised the workplace aspects in Quality of working life,
others have identified the relevance of personality factors, psychological well being, and
broader concepts of happiness and life satisfaction.

Factors more obviously and directly affecting work have, however, served as the main focus
of attention, as researchers have tried to tease out the important influences on Quality of
working life in the workplace.

Mirvis and Lawler (1984)(8) suggested that Quality of working life was associated with
satisfaction with wages, hours and working conditions, describing the basic elements of a
good quality of work life as; safe work environment, equitable wages, equal employment
opportunities and opportunities for advancement.

Baba and Jamal (1991)(9) listed what they described as typical indicators of quality of
working life, including: job satisfaction, job involvement, work role ambiguity, work role
conflict, work role overload, job stress, organisational commitment and turn-over intentions.
Baba and Jamal also explored routinisation of job content, suggesting that this facet should be
investigated as part of the concept of quality of working life.

Measurement

There are few recognised measures of quality of working life, and of those that exist few
have evidence of validity and reliability, that is, there is a very limited literature based on peer
reviewed evbaluations of available assessments. A recent statistical analysis of a new
measure, the Work-Related Quality of Life scale (WRQoL)(18), indicates that this assessment

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device should prove to be a useful instrument, although further evaluation would be useful.
The WRQoWL measure uses 6 core factors to explain most of the variation in an individuals
quality of working life: Job and Career Satisfaction; Working Conditions; General Well-
Being; Home-Work Interface; Stress at Work and Control at Work.

The Job & Career Satisfaction Job and Career satisfaction (JCS)scale of the the Work-Related
Quality of Life scale (WRQoL) is said to reflect an employees feelings about, or evaluation
of, their satisfaction or contentment with their job and career and the training they receive to
do it. Within the WRQoL measure, JCS is reflected by questions asking how satisfied people
feel about their work. It has been proposed that this Positive Job Satisfaction factor is
influenced by various issues including clarity of goals and role ambiguity, appraisal,
recognition and reward, personal development career benefits and enhancement and training
needs.

The General well-being (GWB)scale of the Work-Related Quality of Life scale (WRQoL)
(18), aims to assess the extent to which an individual feels good or content in themselves, in a
way which may be independent of their work situation. It is suggested that general well-being
both influences, and is influenced by work. Mental health problems, predominantly
depression and anxiety disorders, are common, and may have a major impact on the general
well-being of the population. The WRQoL GWB factor assesses issues of mood, depression
and anxiety, life satisfaction, general quality of life, optimism and happiness.

The WRQoL Stress at Work sub-scale (SAW) reflects the extent to which an individual
perceives they have excessive pressures, and feel stressed at work. The WRQoL SAW factor
is assessed through items dealing with demand and perception of stress and actual demand
overload. Whilst it is possible to be pressured at work and not be stressed at work, in general,
high stress is associated with high pressure.

The Control at Work (CAW) subsacle of the WRQoL scale addresses how much employees
feel they can control their work through the freedom to express their opinions and being
involved in decisions at work. Perceived control at work as measureed by the Work-Related
Quality of Life scale (WRQoL)(18)is recognized as a central concept in the understanding of
relationships between stressful experiences, behaviour and health. Control at work, within the
theoretical model underpinning the WRQoL, is influenced by issues of communication at
work, decision making and decision control.

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The WRQoL Home-Work Interface scale (HWI) measures the extent to which an employer is
perceived to support the family and home life of employees. This factor explores the
interrelationship between home and work life domains. Issues that appear to influence
employee HWI include adequate facilities at work, flexibile working hours and the
understanding of managers.

Applications

Regular assessment of Quality of Working Life can potentially provide organisations with
important information about the welfare of their employees, such as job satisfaction, general
well-being, work-related stress and the home-work interface. Studies in the UK University
sector have shown a valid measure of Quality of Working Life exists (19) and can be used as
a basis for effective interventions.

Worrall and Cooper (2006)(14) recently reported that a low level of well-being at work is
estimated to cost about 5-10% of Gross National Product per annum, yet Quality of Working
Life as a theoretical construct remains relatively unexplored and unexplained within the
organisational psychology research literature.

A large chunk of most peoples lives will be spent at work. Most people recognise the
importance of sleeping well, and actively try to enjoy the leisure time that they can snatch.
But all too often, people tend to see work as something they just have to put up with, or even
something they dont even expect to enjoy.

Some of the factors used to measure quality of working life pick up on things that dont
actually make people feel good, but which seem to make people feel bad about work if those
things are absent. For example, noise if the place where someone works is too noisy, they
might get frequent headaches, or find they can not concentrate, and so feel dissatisfied. But
when it is quiet enough they dont feel pleased or happy - they just dont feel bad. This can
apply to a range of factors that affect someone's working conditions.

FUTURE PROSPECTUS

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The field of work-life didnt even have a name when I started studying it more than 25 years
ago, but today the issues surrounding work and family are mainstream.

Efficient, effective and productive

While some see work life (jokingly called work less) as mainly about having
employees work from home or take time off to care for sick children.
However, nothing could be farther from the truth among top employers.
They understand that the new economywith its 24/7 demands across
the globe call for new ways of workingthat they need to rethink the
1950s work model and create workplaces where employers can be
efficient, effective and productive and where employees can be healthy and
have the time and energy for their work and their lives with their families
and in their communities.

This isnt just a pipedream. Weve studied employers nationally for decades, and have created
a rigorous award for organizations that have new ways of making work work for employers
and employees alikean award that surveys both employees and employees to determine
winners. Not surprisingly, we call this award When Work Works, which we give in
partnership with the Society for Human Resource Management. We have assessed over 5000
employers and are in a good position to talk about whats new and whats newsworthy:

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Employees with aging parents or other ailing loved ones are able to relocate to be closer to
mom and dad but still keep their jobs. Such arrangements are done on a permanent basis or
temporarily depending upon needs. One manager at image One, a printer maintenance and
equipment firm, with two children suffering from a rare bone marrow disease was able to
relocate from Arizona to be near a medical specialist in Ohio but still keep his job.

LIMITIONS
1 The workers hasitate disclosing the true facts in order to secure their job .

2 The concept is based on personal opinion which may vary depending on there personal
views .

3 The sample of workers are not representative of the total workeplace .

4 Facts and figures never give us the real story .

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 SUGGESTION:
Job satisfactions are found to be good and it can improve by providing the satisfactory
seating arrangement.

The organization can provide separate computers on each table so that they can reduce paper
works and increase speed and accuracy in maintenance and retrieval of records

The organization can provide regular medical checkup for improving the medical facilities.

The organization can provide bus/cab facilities from quarters to office.

The organization can provide effective training for efficient performance of employees.

The Organization can appoint special computer trainee to meet out the present
computerization of the department.

Separate vigilance checks can be there to ensure punctuality of all employees.

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The Organization can improve the infrastructure for efficient working of individuals

The Organization can review the promotion policies

The Organization can concentrate on transfer policies especially for North Indianemployees.

CONCLUSION
Every organization has to satisfy some of the basic needs and demands of its employees
because the satisfied and motivated employees are the source of achieving the organizational
goals and objectives. In order to use the maximum potential of the human resource,
theorganization has to provide them with the best quality of their working life. Therefore
every organization needs to update and improve the quality of work life of the employees
.From the study it is clear that the overall quality of work life of employees is good in the
office of commissioner of central excise and service tax department of Trichy. This researcnig
lights some of the small gaps in employees satisfaction towards the quality of work life

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Research Methodology C.R. Kothari

Research methodology Uma Shekaran

Statistics for Management Arora

Website Referred:
www.citehr.edu

www.google.com

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